It’s the most charitable explanation for an opening loss against India that revealed a lack of clarity in the team’s configuration
hen you start a campaign, you know that there will be losses along the way. Every movie that brings together a group of sassy and capable characters is going to let a few of them fall for the sake of narrative drive and dramatic development. For those in charge of Australia’s cricket team, perhaps the opening World Cup engagement against India was a sacrifice they were willing to make, one necessary dip in a long story arc.
And yes, they do some damage. Starc performs his specialty, the first-over wicket with a white Kookaburra. Hazelwood adds two more in the next over. The jag back to trap Rohit Sharma is bowling brilliance, the other two wickets owe more to the batting. If Australia were defending more than 200, or if Mitchell Marsh were able to hang on to what would have been a fourth wicket from Virat Kohli’s top edge, then the result might have been different.
Of course, Australia’s squad makes it impossible to pick a team based on slow bowling. The cap of 15 players squeezes until it brings on migraines. Travis Head is sore but gets picked injured, Marcus Stoinis soon becomes so. That leaves 13 fit players to choose from for the team’s tournament opener. But in any case, there was only ever one frontline spinner.
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